Records Fall at Silverstone Auctions Classic Motor Show

The 2016 Silverstone Auctions event at the Classic Motor Show was held 12-13 November, resulting in £5.8 million in total sales and an 80 percent sell-through rate. Taking place at the NEC in Birmingham, the two-day sale was the company’s best result at the event.

Among highlights was the ex-Chris Barber 1958 Lotus Elite Series I that sold for a new record auction price of £121,500, more than £40,000 over its lower estimate. The Lotus was restored by Ant Anstead, Phil Glenister and the team from ‘For the Love of Cars’ TV show. Another car restored by Anstead’s team, a 1969 Aston Martin DBS 6 Vantage Spec, sold for a world record £174,375 to an online buyer in Austria.

Porsches also sold for new benchmark prices at the 2016 Silverstone Auctions Classic Motor Show event. After a bidding war, a 1985 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo SE Flatnose, the first UK car, sold for a record price of £202,500. However it didn’t last long as just half an hour later a right-hand drive 1989 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo Flachbau was offered, this time in Guards Red, selling for £211,500 and a new record price. The highest value lot of the sale went to another Porsche, as the 1957 356A T1 Speedster sold for £306,563.

No less than seven Jaguar E-Types were offered and all sold for above their pre-sale estimates. A 1962 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 Roadster, owned by the vendor for 43 years and starring in an official Jaguar video, had seven phone bidders as well as buyers in the room trying to purchase the car. It eventually sold for £171,000, nearly £80,000 over its lower estimate.

With everything about the car ‘just right’, a 1965 Jaguar E-Type 4.2 Series I Roadster sold for £146,250, more than £50,000 over its lower estimate, and a ‘barn-find’ 1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III Roadster sold for £69,750, nearly double its lower estimate.

It wasn’t only E-Types that proved popular with Jaguar fans. A 1977 Jaguar XJ12 Coupe, a winner of over 18 national concours events, achieved a new record price, selling for £43,875.

Raising £12,938 for Prostate Cancer UK, a 1969 Morris Mini Super Deluxe, restored by Lancaster Insurance to its former glory, was sold to a buyer in the room.

Managing director of Silverstone Auctions, Nick Whale, said, “I’m delighted that we’ve achieved such strong prices for our vendors and it’s a delight to see buyers going home so pleased with their new purchases. I’d like to say a special thank all those involved in helping put the sale together and make it such a success.”

The next Silverstone Auctions event takes place 24-26 February 2017 at Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire over three days, including a competition car sale and two-day classic road car sale.